The First Cut is the Deepest
by CreatureHanstran
Summary: *Sequel to Shadows* After the HYDRA attack on SHIELD, Jessica will do whatever it takes to get Arika back and avenge the loss of the ones who had died by Hydra.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! I'm back with another story! I think this one is legit legit going to be my last story for this "Series" I'm serious...**

 **okay I'll see you at the end of the chapter okie dokie...**

 **Enjoy!**

 **~CreatureHanstran~**

 **Chapter 1: Unrecoverable Injuries**

"Let me go! What are you guys doing?" I struggled to break free from the grasp of the two men who had me by the arms. They gripped tighter, I used my strength to throw them to the ground then turned and ran. I had to get back to my parents, back to what was left of my home, I didn't remember much of the past few days, I just remembered the part where I was told to kill my parents, and seeing the fear in their faces. The guards started coming after me, I blasted them back with my powers then ran towards the exit. Right as I got outside I was tackled to the ground, "Let me go!" I struggled, "I'm sorry Arika." Steven said, raising his fist...

 **~Jessica's POV~**

It had been a few days after the attack, the base wasn't the only thing destroyed, homes and businesses were also caught up in the attack. It was hard living without Seamus, and Arika was still being held captive by HYDRA, I was alone. The day came for Seamus' funeral, I tried to hold myself together, but that was impossible. We all stood at the cemetery as they lowered Seamus' casket into the ground, I cried, Pietro put a hand on my shoulder.

I hugged him as people started to leave, "Do you need someone to take you home?" Dan asked as him and the rest of the Creatures walked up to me,

"No... Thanks." I sniffled,

"Are you sure?" Sly asked, I just nodded,

"Well, we're here Jess, if you need us for anything." Jordan said,

"Thanks guys." Jordan nodded and they left.

"Are you sure you don't need someone to take you home?" Pietro asked,

"Actually... Could you please take me home?" I sniffled, he nodded and led me back to the car.

Not much was said on the ride back to my house, it was better that way. I stared out the window as Pietro drove down the dirt road, he pulled up to the house, "Do you want me to come in with you?"

"Not right now, I'll see you later okay." I said and quickly got out of the car, running up the sidewalk and into my house. It was silent, no one was around, I went upstairs into my room to get dressed, inside the closet were Seamus' clothes, untouched since the day they were washed and put in there. I pulled out one of his favorite T-shirts and put it on then curled into bed and started crying. I had never been so alone in my life, I had no parents to talk to, and Tony was gone. Nothing anyone could say would make it better, all I wanted was to go back in time and fix this whole mess before it started, I got so lost in my thoughts and eventually I fell asleep.

 _Rubble was falling everywhere as the house came falling on top of us, Tony and I ran for our lives, "Jess, you have to get out of here!" Tony said to me, "I-I can't, my powers aren't working!" I exclaimed. Tony looked around his garage for a solution, his robots and cars were falling into the ocean and soon we would be following. A giant crack formed in the floor, the side I was standing on started tilting, I fell and started falling towards the ocean, but something stopped me. I looked up and saw that Tony had me by the hand, "Tony!" "Don't worry, we're in this together." He smirked as we fell towards the ocean._

I woke up startled, my room was dark, the clock said 3 am. With a sigh I got up and went to the bathroom, I splashed water on my face and sighed, it was so quiet without Seamus' light snoring. I started tearing up a little bit, being alone sucked, so I grabbed my phone and dialed a number. The phone rang a few times, "Hello?" A tired Sly answered,

"Sly..." I said and wiped a tear off my cheek,

"Jess, are you okay?" He suddenly sounded more awake,

"I'm fine, can you just... come over or something?"

"Yeah, I'll be over in a bit."

"Thanks." I hung up the phone and sniffled. Sly was Seamus' best friends, I know he understands how I feel right now, no one else did. I got out of bed and went downstairs, about two minutes later there was a knock on my door.

I got off of the couch and opened the door, "Hey, are you okay?" Sly asked,

"Yeah... no... Being alone really sucks." I said and went back to the living room, he followed and sat next to me on the couch,

"Yeah, trust me, I know being alone sucks, but we aren't alone." He said, "You have me and the guys, and Pika and Pepper and Clint and your sister... I forgot where I was going with this." I sniffled and laughed a little. He smiled, "Ha, I made you laugh."

"Thanks Sly... I just... miss Seamus so much."

"Yeah, we all do, trust me. I knew him longer than you did, he was a great man, and you guys had a beautiful daughter who you'll get back soon."

"Actually Sly, about that..."

"About what?"

"Arika wasn't Seamus' daughter, she's Pietro's."

 **Sorry guys, but I had to break the news somehow, I hated doing it after Seamus was gone, but what was I supposed to do? He already died, I couldn't bring him back if I tried, and no, I wasn't breaking the fourth wall by doing so...**

 **My story plots happen for a reason...**

 **Everything planned out before the first story is even started...**

 **Review Review Review**

 **(Or else!)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Guys, is there a way for me to link my stories to my twitter feed? That would be awesome if someone could tell me...**

 **Anyway, thank you SwifteForeverAndAlways and Superloudean for the reviews, glad you guys like the story so far**

 **and thanks for the reuse of your characters Superloudean, you're awesome!**

 **Man, in less than two weeks I'll be moving into college, I wont forget you guys... I promise!**

 **It is 5:44 pm.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **~CreatureHanstran~**

 **Chapter 2: Picking up Pieces**

 **~Sarah's POV~**

I wanted so badly to be mad at Tony for not telling Aunt Jess about Arika, it wouldn't have mattered, Uncle Seamus was gone and he wasn't coming back, ever. I sighed as I walked out of my room to the kitchen, on my way I noticed a picture of my parents hanging on the wall, a picture taken long before I was born. My mom always told me my dad was a great man, I only wished I had met him and Tony's dad before, but you can't change the past. I went into the kitchen where my mom left some food for me to heat up, I threw it in the microwave and waited. I nearly had a heart attack when the phone rang, "Hello?" I answered,

"Sarah, you should come over." Tony said,

"I thought you were still grounded and couldn't have anyone over."

"I am, but I told my mom that I was grieving and needed a friend to comfort me and help me cope."

I sighed, "You shouldn't lie to your mom like that."

"Well, I mean, it's kind of true."

"Can I eat first?"

"Sure."

"See you in a few minutes." I hung up the phone and grabbed my food from the microwave.

I arrived at Tony's house about 10 minutes later, Tony opened the door and quickly pulled me inside, "Tony, what the-"

"I have something to show you." He started dragging me downstairs,

"No, Tony, the last time you had something to show us, Arika went missing, and I will not be next."

"No, it's not bad, it's something good, something I invented."

"I thought you said it was good..."

"Haha, you're hilarious." He said sarcastically,

"I try."

"When Arika was with HYDRA when the base was attacked I knew she wouldn't be strong enough to destroy us, and I also figured HYDRA wouldn't let her stay here at SHIELD."

"Yeah, so?"

"So, I put a small tracking device on her."

"How did you do that?"

"I flicked it at her..."

"Oh..."

He walked into his nerd cave and over to a computer, "So the plan is, I locate Arika, then tell Aunt Jess about the whole situation and where Arika is, and assuming I'm not dead by then, we can go get Arika."

"Tony, that is literally the smartest plan I think you've ever had."

"Thank you, I try, now the only problem is when I should tell Aunt Jess."

"Now isn't the best time, but the longer we wait, the more danger we or Arika could be in."

"I know." He typed at the computer. I watched him type in a bunch of confusing codes and numbers that meant absolutely nothing to me, a map of the city above showed up on the computer screen. He typed some more, a red blip showed up on top of a building, Tony zoomed in on the building, "There she is." The building looked like an ordinary building from the outside, but who knew what evils lurked within.

 **~Jess' POV~**

What I said to Sly the other day was told to be kept in strict confidentiality, we were rebuilding the base, "James, do you have the blueprints?" I asked,

"I sure do." He handed them to me, the base had the same layout, but we were reinforcing it with the stronger materials, and more security protocols,

"I like it, let's get on it right away." The others nodded and we split up to clean up the rubble.

Pietro came up behind me, "What about finding your daughter?"

I sighed, "Pietro, I'm trying to find her, but there's not much to do if our systems aren't working." He nodded and left. I started picking up the rubble and tossing it into the trash pile,

"Need help?" Pika asked,

"Yeah, thanks." I smiled at my friend.

We were in the middle of clean up when I heard from behind me, "Aunt Jess! Aunt Jess!" Tony and Sarah were running up the base,

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"Uh... well, it's a long story actually." Tony said,

"Tony what did you do this time?"

"Nothing..." Sarah elbowed him, "Er... well, it's about Arika."

"What about her? Tell me."

"Uh... A few weeks ago I suggested that Sarah, Arika and I skip class because I had something cool to show them, so we skipped class to go into the upper world and it was really cool, but we left after we ate food, and I think that after her leg healed Arika went up there and got captured by HYDRA, but I tracked her back to what I think is the HYDRA base..." He said it all quickly and in one breath, but I heard him loud and clear.

Pika looked at Sarah, "Sarah Michaela, did you know about this?"

"Yes..." She hung her head in shame,

"We have to go find her." I said to Pika, she nodded, "And don't think you're off the hook, I'm telling Pepper what you did."

Tony sighed, "Yes Aunt Jess."

"Come on, we have to gather everyone we can." Pika nodded and followed me to the others,

"Aunt Jess what about us?" Tony asked,

"You two are staying here, it's too dangerous for you to go." Pika said as we went to talk to the others.

"Guys, we're going to need your help." I said,

"With what?" Dan asked,

"We're getting Arika."

"How are we going to find her?" Sly inquired,

"Tony will show us where to go."

"But we can't face HYDRA, we couldn't do it last week, what makes you think we can do it now?" Aleks asked,

"Because now surprise is on our side." They all looked at each other, "Trust me guys." I said, "I have a plan."

"Then we're in, for Seamus." Jordan said, everyone nodded in agreement except Sly who gave me a look, 'Trust me' I mouthed to him, he nodded,

"For Seamus." Sly smiled,

I smiled back, "Let's go get my daughter back."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello one and all and welcome back to another chapter, in 4 more days I will be going to college, I mean, I hope I am... If I can get this stupid Loan problem settled, its frustrating... DONT GO TO COLLEGE! Seriously...**

 **Thanks to Superloudean and SwifteForeverAndAlways for the reviews...**

 **My laptop is literally deader than most of the people in this story saga...**

 **Too soon?**

 **Sorry...**

 **Enjoy!**

 **it is 6:37 pm and cold af!**

 **~CreatureHanstran511~**

 **Chapter 3: It's not over**

Steven could feel it, full control of his mind and body, but he couldn't show it, not now, or ever. He also had full awareness of his actions, and he felt guilty about having to do what he did to Arika. The brainwashed girl was in the training room, she was expressionless, but she still had the same piercing blue-green eyes that Steven couldn't help but fall in love with, her nearly white hair was pulled into a bun with a few loose strands sticking out here and there. Steven didn't deny that he was in fact in love with the girl, he approached her, he wanted to tell her everything, but he didn't, "Need a training partner?"

She smirked at him, "If you insist." The one thing that he was glad about was that she didn't forget about their relationship.

After they were finished sparring it was late at night, and they headed out into the cool night air. The full moon illuminated the city and the woods that surrounded it in the distance, "The moon is so pretty tonight." Arika smiled, "I don't remember ever seeing the moon before... I don't remember much of anything before waking up here... Just you." She looked at him, the moon reflecting in her eyes causing Steven to smile,

"Is remembering me a bad thing?" He asked.

She shook her head and looked back at the moon, "Do you know anything about me? About my past I mean..."

Steven sighed, he couldn't tell her, Boss would know for sure. He looked at her, "No, I don't, I just remember us..."

"Me too." She leaned over and kissed him.

 **~Tony's POV~**

I wasn't dead, not yet anyway, but I really would rather have been dead than listen to what was probably the worst lecture my mom had given, it started with, "Tony what is wrong with you? Did you not realize that what you were doing had consequences!?..." And there was something in the middle about, "You put not only your life in danger, but also Arika's life and all the people who were injured and killed!..." Then it ended with, "You are grounded for another six months and don't come out of your room!" Great, a year and a half worth of grounding. I felt bad about the whole ordeal, I really did, I just honestly didn't account for Arika to go do something stupid, I should have known, but I didn't.

Downstairs I heard footsteps, my moms clearly, as she paced around talking on the phone, I climbed off of my bed and leaned against the door, "...Yeah... Tonight? But I can't, someone has to keep an eye on Tony..." She sighed, "I know Jess you need my help but I can't trust Tony to be by himself... Well, I never thought about asking her, if anyone, she can keep him out of trouble." I wondered who she was talking about, "Okay, I'll call Ella and talk to her about it..." Sarah? She was going to make Sarah watch me? This might not be so bad, "Okay, I'll be there soon Jess, bye." I heard her coming up the stairs so I jumped onto my bed and pretended to be bored.

My mom knocked on the door, "Yeah?"

She opened the door, "Hey, I have to go out but Sarah is coming over to watch you." In other words, she was going to be my totally hot babysitter,

"Oh okay, that's cool." I said, sounding nonchalant about it,

"She knows the rules and knows that you're grounded, so don't try to pull anything."

"Yes, mother." I sighed.

Sarah showed up about 20 minutes later, "Thank you for watching him." My mom said,

"No problem, and don't worry, I won't let him try to trick me." Sarah smiled,

"Good, I don't know when I will be back, but Tony, stay out of trouble."

"Okay mom."

She kissed me on the forehead, "See you later."

"Bye mom." She walked out the door.

I turned towards Sarah who was smirking at me, "You are not my babysitter okay, you're the same age as me, it doesn't count." I said, heading towards the living room,

"It does count because your mom put me in charge, and because I am in charge..." She ran ahead of me and grabbed the TV remote, "That means no TV for you."

"Not funny Sarah, give me the remote."

"No." She held it in the air so I couldn't reach it. It really did bother me that she was taller than me, I jumped to grab it but she held it away,

"Serves you right for what you did to Arika." She said,

"You are at as much blame for it as I am." I said,

"I am not, you were the one who took us there, it's all on your hands." I sighed and took a step back. Sarah looked at me, "What are you thinking about?"

"They can't go alone." I said and turned around,

"We can't go, we'll get hurt either by HYDRA or our moms..."

"I know, but we can at least help them." I headed down to the basement,

"Tony, what are you doing?" She asked,

"Something that will probably get me into more trouble than what I already am in, but oh well." I flipped the lightswitch on. I walked into my lab, up to the Iron Man suit that my dad made years before I was born.

Sarah sighed behind me, "Tony, I can't believe I'm saying this, but whatever stupid plan you have, you're going to need some help."

I turned towards her, "Perfect." I smirked.


	4. Chapter 4

**My goodness guys it has been forever since ive updated! College life sucks and I've been so busy! I KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN! Anyway, i am done with exams now (thank god) but unfortunately college still goes on, and I'm stuck here hating it and neglecting to update because of classes**

 **seriously, it sucks!**

 **Hope everyone is enjoying whatever it is they are doing, and I hope to see you guys again, soon? Hopefully...**

 **Or Nah...**

 **Its currently 4:33 pm here**

 **Enjoy!**

 **~CreatureHanstran~**

 **Chapter 4: Rescue Mission**

She felt a throbbing in her head, she gripped her hair, she couldn't stand it. Images flashed in her head, images of people she didn't know, but they looked familiar. She fell to her knees on her bedroom floor and screamed out in pain. Steven came into the room, "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

She was staring at the floor, "W...What's happening?" She looked up at him, her eyes were looking normal.

He knew that the brainwashing was wearing off, he looked around then closed the door, "Listen." He whispered, "Your name is Arika and you were kidnapped and brought here, you have a mom who loves you a lot and she has been looking for you..."

"My mom...? J-Jessica..."

Steven nodded, "Yeah..."

"What about my dad?"

"Your dad is fine too, but we have to get out of here."

"What about him?"

Steven sighed, "Let's just go, and move quick." She nodded and got up. The two snuck out of her room, Steven grabbed her by the arm and ran down the hallway, "Where are we-"

Steven covered Arika's mouth with his free hand, "Shh..." He peeked around the corner, no one was in sight. They headed towards the exit when an alarm sounded, "Uh oh..." Steven stopped when agents surrounded the two...

 **~Tony's POV~**

Sarah was wearing a red, white, and blue spandex suit that was similar to what her dad wore in the pictures we've seen, she strapped the shield to her back, "Tony, I feel dumb..."

"N-no... you look great." I stuttered, sounding stupid.

She looked at the computer, "Let's go get Arika." I nodded.

We snuck our way up top to the surface world, in the distance an alarm was going off, "What is that?" Sarah asked,

"I don't know, maybe the attack had already started..." I said, "We should check it out." I said, heading towards the city.

The whole place was empty, but from the base were lights like a football stadium and the sound of the alarm was in that direction so Sarah and I headed there, inside we could hear gunshots, so I broke down the door. Inside it looked like Hydra agents fighting each other, no, two of their own.

Sarah walked in, "Tony look!" She pointed to the two people against everyone. It was Arika and the guy she was with in the base, I blasted away an agent that was about to attack her, "Arika!" Sarah exclaimed.

Arika turned around and so did the guy, "What are you doing here?" He asked,

"Saving our friend that you kidnapped!" Sarah said,

"I didn't... I'm not..." He stuttered,

"That's what I thought." I said,

"Guys, now isn't the time to argue." Arika said as another wave of agents surrounded us.

Sarah grabbed her shield, "I hope this works." She tossed it like a frisbee. It zig-zagged between agents, taking down a good portion of them. The shield came back to her and she caught it,

"Nice one." I said to her, "Now let's see what this does." I held my hand out and fired repulsors at a line of agents, "Oh yeah, this will work."

We fought the agents, but more kept coming at us, "We have to get out of here." Arika said,

"There's no way we can, not with all these agents surrounding us." Sarah said, "We aren't gaining ground."

"And I'd like to keep it that way." A voice said.

Suddenly my suit started malfunctioning, "My suit! I-I can't control it!" It opened up and I was thrown out of it,

"He must have hacked into it." The guy said,

"Who?"

There was evil laughing behind us, "I must say, for a bunch of kids, you guys fight well... And that's just what I need in my base." An agent grabbed Sarah, the guy, and I. Another agent put something on Arika, probably to neutralize her powers.

The other agents parted ways to reveal an older blonde guy who looked to be Aunt Jess' age, he had a permanent scowl on his face, "I didn't think this day could get any better, get the machines ready, we've got some new agents joining us here in Hydra."


End file.
